Abe Increases Rates;<br>Alibris is Going Public.<br>What’s Next for the Book Sites?
- by Michael Stillman
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What does this mean? Perhaps Google will feel compelled to move seriously into the book search business while it is still the overwhelmingly dominant search engine. You snooze, you lose. And, if Google passes on books, there’s no guarantee that Yahoo and MSN will pass too. It’s hard to imagine that not even one of these giants will attempt to use its searching power to become the leader in used book searching.
How might a Google (or Yahoo or MSN) book search work? Google already has the capacity to target searches to specific websites only. It would not be difficult for them to give booksellers a format as to how to offer books on their own websites. Rather than posting their books to a bookselling site, the dealer simply posts them on his own website, using a format designed for Google searches. The dealer incurs no listing fee. If they are too small to have their own website, either Google or an outside service could rent space on a server to that dealer for a fairly nominal cost. Once the dealer signs on with Google, Google adds his or her site to those searched for used books. Anytime a consumer goes to Google’s book search to locate a title, Google searches the sites of all dealers who have signed up for their service and posts the results as it now does for web searches.
How does Google get paid? Here’s a real advantage they have. While Abe looks to collect a commission on sales, which leads to the problem of buyers buying the books they find offline, Google can simply charge the way they now charge other advertisers. Google charges advertisers on a per click basis. In other words, every time someone clicks on one of their ads, Google collects a small fee, frequently just a few pennies. They could do the same with their book search service. Click on the listing Google finds and Google gets a couple of cents. It doesn’t matter whether the customer buys the book online or offline, or even at all. Each click brings Google a couple of pennies. While not every click results in a sale, the cost per click is sufficiently low that this may be a cheaper cost per ultimate sale for dealers than that of current commissions systems. And, since Google never has to deal with customers, complaints, charges, or anything else themselves, since all they are is a search engine, costs are minimal to them. They are in a strong position to undercut competition. Whatever they make, it’s all plus business. If Google doesn’t like this idea, there are two other search engines waiting in the wings who might.
Now there’s one more colossus out there we haven’t even mentioned: eBay. eBay isn’t a typical bookselling site. It’s an online auction. Nonetheless, it has become one of the world’s largest booksellers. They are drawing off more and more sales that otherwise would go through traditional bookselling venues (if you can call internet bookselling “traditional”). eBay is an amazing success, perhaps the most successful internet company ever. They have achieved total domination of the online auction business. Abe has its Alibris, Amazon its Barnes and Noble. eBay has no one of comparable significance behind it. They can do as they please, and one of the things that pleases eBay is selling more old books.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
